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More on Today’s Markets:
GE Aerospace posted a strong Q2, with total revenue of $10.2 billion, up 23% year-over-year. Growth was broad-based across both segments. Commercial Engines & Services (CES) led the way, delivering $8.0 billion in revenue, up 30% from last year. Services revenue climbed 29%, driven by spare parts sales (up over 25% on volume and pricing) and a more than 20% increase in internal shop visit revenue, thanks to higher output, expanded work scopes, and pricing tailwinds. On the equipment side, revenue was up 35%, with unit volume up 37%, as demand remained strong and supply chain execution continued to improve. Defense & Propulsion Technologies (DPT) brought in $2.6 billion, a 7% increase versus last year. Within that, Defense & Systems grew 6% and Propulsion & Additive Technologies rose 9%.
B2Gold operates as a $4.51 billion market cap global gold producer, headquartered in Vancouver, Canada. BTG operates gold mines in Namibia, Mali, and the Philippines. The company also began production this year at the Goose mine in northern Canada. B2Gold is developing the Back River mine in Canada and the Gramalote Project in Colombia, where the company has 100% ownership of both mines. BTG continues its exploration for additional areas with a $9 million budget in 2025. BTG has 100% ownership in the Masbate Gold Project in the Philippines. Masbate has a processing throughput of 8 Mtpa (8 million tonnes per year) with a mineral reserve grade of 2.07 gram per tonne of gold (g/t Au). This mine has a 74.5% gold recovery rate.
Back in January, I upgraded shares of Mexican airport operator Southeast Airport Group (NYSE:ASR) (OTCPK: ASRMF) from a hold to a buy rating. I did so in large part because its Colombian airports are showing operational momentum. In my view, that strength would be sufficient to offset the fact that the company’s core Mexican airports produced disappointing traffic figures last year. That call appears to have been right so far, with ASR shares up about 15% since then. Additionally, Sureste shares have produced a 30% total return since that point, when including the massive $25.71/share dividend that Sureste paid out in May. That said, operationally, Sureste continues to be the weakest of the Mexican airport operators year-to-date. In fact, it recently reported a 1.8% decline in overall traffic for June 2025 as compared to the prior year.
In fact, a $100 million business as recent as 2021 has risen to over $200 million by now following a successful transition away from cyclical energy markets to sustainable growth in defense & space, while the shareholder base has been kept flattish. Operating margins have been relatively modest, having risen to mid-single digits in more recent times, as this is really a smaller business. Shareholder views on the business have been divergent in the past, this being a $40 stock in 2007 and 2013 already. Shares were down to just $7 in 2022 coming out of the pandemic, as momentum has been red-hot ever since, driven by a real transition, backed up by real results. A $30 stock last fall rose to the $50 mark early this year, as shares fell to the mid-twenties in April, to ever since double to current levels at $51 per share again.
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